Uniswap announced the launch of the Layer2 network “Unicahin” designed specifically for DeFi on the evening of the 10th. Based on the OP Stack, it is decentralized, fast, cheap, and allows for multi-chain exchanges. It is worth mentioning that Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, stated two years ago that it is meaningless for Uniswap to launch an application chain.
Unicahin has three main highlights: UNI surged 18%, Vitalik: Uniswap’s launch of the application chain is meaningless.
The decentralized exchange (DEX) leader, Uniswap, announced the launch of the Layer2 network “Unicahin” designed specifically for DeFi on the evening of the 10th. Based on the OP Stack, it is built to be decentralized, fast, cheap, and allows for multi-chain exchanges. The test network is currently live, and the main network is expected to be launched later this year.
According to official information, Unichain was created to address the challenges of Ethereum DeFi, mainly to achieve the following three goals:
1) Further decentralization while keeping costs low
By moving transaction execution to Unichain, Unichain will reduce transaction costs by about 95% in the short term compared to Ethereum L1, and even more over time. In addition, Unichain will launch a “decentralized verification network” in 2025, allowing nodes to stake $UNI for block validation. This adds an additional layer of finality and reduces the risk of conflict or invalid blocks proposed by sequencers.
2) Fast
Through cooperation with Flashbots, Unichain block time will only take 1 second and will soon introduce sub-blocks of 250 milliseconds. This will greatly enhance user experience, improve market efficiency, and reduce losses caused by MEV.
3) Seamless multi-chain exchange
Unichain allows for seamless multi-chain exchange. It is expected that shortly after the launch of Unichain, this feature will be introduced on the Uniswap website and Uniswap Wallet.
Unichain, as part of the Optimism Superchain, is working with OP Labs to achieve native cross-chain interoperability, allowing for cross-chain communication within a single block between Superchain’s various L2 chains (such as Base and Synthentix’s SNAXchain). Chains outside of Superchain will improve cross-chain interoperability through ERC-7683, ultimately allowing users to operate seamlessly without worrying about which chain they are using.
In addition to these goals, the official statement indicates that Unichain is modular, expandable to include more powerful new features, and open source (MIT license) for adoption by other chains. The Uniswap Foundation also provides funding and technical support to assist developers on Unichain.
As a result of this news, especially the use of $UNI for node staking, the price of $UNI has soared. According to CoinGecko data, UNI has risen from a low of $7.15 yesterday to a high of $8.43 in the early hours of today, an increase of 17.9%.
As of the deadline, $UNI was temporarily reported at $8.09, up 9.3% in the last 24 hours.
It is worth mentioning that Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, stated in a post in 2022 that he did not think it was necessary for Uniswap to launch an application chain. However, with Uniswap’s launch of the “Unichain” designed specifically for DeFi, it indicates that they are working to expand the direction of the application chain. Whether it can be widely adopted remains to be seen after the main network goes live.